Glossary of mushrooms
From WikiMD's Food, Medicine & Wellness Encyclopedia
This a list of terms used in mushrooms.
- -oecious – suffix meaning house
- -physis – suffix meaning growth
- -podium – suffix meaning foot
- -thecium – suffix meaning case
- Adnate – gills on a mushroom attached broadly/squarely to the stem
- Adnexed – only a small part of the gills on a mushroom attached to the stem
- Aecio- -- prefix meaning cup
- Agaric – the word often used synonymously with ‘mushroom’ – a fungus that produces spores on gills.
- Alveolate – like a honeycomb
- Amyloid – turning blue-black to dark violet upon exposure to iodine stain or Melzer's reagent (see also dextrinoid)
- Angiocarpous – describing a sporocarp that is closed at least until the spores are mature
- Annulus – the "ring"; a band of tissue encircling the stem of a mushroom (e. g. commercial button mushrooms), sometimes movable
- Apex – Apical, at the tip (opposite of basal – at the base)
- Apo- – prefix meaning open, e. g. apothecium – open disk-like ascoma
- Appendiculate – with fragments of the veil of a mushroom hanging to the cap edge
- Arthropods – animals with exoskeletons, such as insects and spiders and crabs
- Asco-– prefix meaning sack
- Ascocarp – ascus bearing structure of an ascomycete
- Ascoma (-ta) – ascus bearing structure of an ascomycete
- Ascomycota– fungi with sexual spores borne in a flask-shaped structure called an ascus
- Ascus – sack-like structure containing the sexual spores of ascomycetes
- Attached – gills fastened to the stem of a mushroom (see gill attachment)
- Auto- – prefix meaning self
- Basal – at the base (opposite of apical)
- Basidio- – prefix meaning small pedestal
- Basidiomycota– fungi with sexual spores borne on the outside of a special club-shaped structure called a basidium
- Basidium – structure producing the sexual spores of basidiomycetes. Two major kinds, distinguished by lacking (holobasidia) or having (heterobasidia) septa.
- Binding hyphae(in basidiomata) – thick walled, highly branched, aseptate, interwoven, narrow, binding generative and skeletal hyphae together.
- Bolete – soft textured fungi which generally have pores instead of gills
- Boletoid – shape of a bolete spore, here, Boletus russellii
- Campanulate – bell shaped, typically describing mushroom caps
- Cap – the expanded, upper part of the mushroom; whose surface is the pileus
- Cartilaginous – tough-brittle, making a noise when broken
- Central – describing mushroooms – with stem attached at the centre of the cap
- Circinate – twisted round, coiled
- Clavate – club shaped, widest at the tip
- Cleisto- – prefix meaning closed
- Confluent – for mushrooms – tissues of cap and stem alike and continuous so that cap and stem are not easily separated. Typical of Cantharellus (chantarelles)
- Conic – roughly cone-shaped, generally for mushroom caps
- Context (in basidiomata) – tissue type in hymenomycetes (Holobasidiomycetes). The hyphal mass between the upper surface of the basidiocarp and the fertile layer of cells (gills, pores, teeth). The "meat" of the cap of a mushroom, or the middle of a bracket
- Convex – somewhat the shape of a half-circle, regularly rounded on top (as in the diagram above)
- Coprophilous – living on dung (syn. fimicolous)
- Corti- – prefix meaning bark
- Cortina – a cobwebby, veil-like structure extending from cap margin to stem but soon disappearing
- Cuticle – skin of a mushroom cap or stem
- Cylindrical – having the shape of a cylinder
- Decurrent – describing mushroom gills as running down the stem
- Deliquescing – dissolving and falling to the ground as drops of liquid, e. g. Coprinus caps
- Dendroid – treelike in form
- Dentate – toothed
- Denticle– short toothlike projection
- Depressed – with the central part sunken below the level of the margin
- Dextrinoid – turning red-purple upon exposure to iodine or Melzer's reagent (see also amyloid)
- Dichotomous – divided into two
- Didymospore – a two-celled spore
- Dimidiate – semi-circular in outline
- Dimitic (in basidiomata) – sporocarps with two kinds of hyphae, generative and skeletal
- Dung – manure
- Eccentric – not attached in the center
- Ellipsoid – elliptical, with both ends similar (see ovoid)
- Elongate – not globose, but this term does not specify a particular shape
- Emarginate – notched next to the stem, typically describing mushroom gills
- Eu- – prefix meaning true
- Evanescent – soon disappearing
- Falcate – curved like a sickle or new moon
- Fertile – able to produce spores
- Fibrillose – covered with or containing fibrils
- Fibrils – small flecks or strands of fibrous material
- Fibrous – tough, stringy, not breaking straight across
- Filiform – threadlike
- Fimbriate – with hairs
- Fimicolous – living on dung (syn. coprophilous)
- Fleshy – rather soft, putrescent, spongy; often describing mushroom caps
- Floccose –with cottony material on the surface
- Fragile – easily broken
- Furcate – forked
- Fusiform – spindle shaped, narrowing at each end
- Fusoid -– somewhat fusiform
- Gelatinous – the consistence of jelly. Subgelatinous is firm jelly.
- Generative hyphae (in basidiomata) – thin walled, branched, usually septate but with or without clamp connections, giving rise to other kinds of hyphae in the basidiocarp, as well as to the hymenium
- Germ pore– special region of the spore from which germination occurs, often appearing a s a circle on the spore wall
- Gill attachment
- Gill spacing(see picture glossary)
- Gills – blade-like structures on the underside of mushroom caps in agarics
- Globose – spherical or nearly so
- Gymnocarpus -– having the primordium and mature sporocarp with an exposed hymenium
- Helicospore – cylindrical spiral spore, one or more cells
- Hemiangiocarpous – sporocarp opening before spores are quite mature
- Hetero- – prefix meaning other
- Heteromerous – containing cells with distinctive textures (e. g. in Russula, spherical cells and hyphae intermixed; in Lactarius, +/– latex bearing hyphae)
- Holomorph –all forms produced by a species during its life cycle = anamorph + teleomorph
- Homo- – prefix meaning same
- Homoiomerous – of a lichen thallus, having the fungal and algal components intermixed throughout
- Homomerous/homiomerous – composed of one type of cell
- Homothallism – self-fertility
- Hyaline – devoid of colour
- Hyalo- – prefix meaning colourless. Note – spores are considered to be pigmented if the walls appear dark either individually or within a mass.
- Hyalospore – one-celled conidium devoid of colour (if coloured, a phaeospore)
- Hygrophanous – appearing water-soaked, especially of mushroom caps
- Hymenium – fertile layer of a sporocarp, for example on ascomata and basidiomata
- Hyphal analysis –(in basidiomata) descriptions of the development and structure of the sporocarps of higher fungi based on a paper by Corner, 1932, Transactions of the British Mycological Society 17:51 (TBMS, now Mycological Research) Basidiocarps are defined by the number of types of hyphae they contain: monomitic, dimitic trimitic see individual entries for definitions)
- Incurved – with the margin (usually of a mushroom cap) turning inward toward the stem
- Indusium – the skirt under the head of certain stinkhorns
- Inrolled – with the edge (usually of a mushroom cap) rolling up on the side next to the stem
- Intercalary – between base and apex
- Lamella (-ae) – a single leaf (or leaves) of a gill
- Lateral – a mushroom stipe attached to one side of the cap, e. g. Pleurotus
- Lenticular – lens shaped
- Lignicolous – growing on wood
- Membranous – like a membrane; thin and flexible, or pliant
- Meristem arthrospore – one of a chain of conidia maturing in basipetal succession, and originating by meristematic growth of the apical region of the conidiophore, but not from a phialide, e. g. Oidium
- Meristem – actively dividing cells
- Monomitic: (in basidiomata) sporocarp with one kind of hypha – generative
- Mushroom – the reproductive body of certain basidiomycetes; typically consists of cap, stem and gills
- Mutualism – "living together" of unlike species to their mutual benefit, e. g. mycorrhizae, lichens.
- Mycelium (-ia) – a mass of hyphae, with or without septa
- Non-amyloid– not changing colour in response to iodine (Melzer's reagent) but staying yellow-brown to brown
- Obclavate – club shaped, but widest at the base (see clavate)
- Obconic -– not quite conical
- Obovoid – like ovoid (hen’s egg shape) but narrow end at the base
- Obtuse – rounded or blunt
- Ochre – dingy-yellowish
- Ontogeny – development
- Operculum – a round apical lid, on an ascus tip of certain species
- Ovoid – like a hen’s egg, with one end narrower than the other, wide end at the base (see obovoid and ellipsoid, and picture glossary)
- Para- – prefix meaning beside
- Paraphyses – sterile determinate hyphae that separate asci in some ascomata
- Parasitic – living on or within another organism and obtaining nutrients at the expense of that organism (see mutualistic and symbiotic)
- Per- – prefix meaning 'more than'
- Peri- – prefix meaning around
- Persistent – remaining for a long time
- Phaeo- – prefix meaning coloured. Note – spores are considered to be pigmented if the walls appear dark either separate or within a mass.
- Phaeospore – coloured one-celled spore
- Phago-prefix meaning to eat
- Pileus – surface covering of a mushroom cap
- Pip-shaped – like an apple seed
- Polypores common name of tough-textured fungi with pores
- Pore – structure in the tips of some asci, often containing starch
- Pro- – prefix meaning before
- Pseudo- – prefix meaning false
- Pseudo – prefix meaning false
- Pyriform – pear-shaped
- Recurved – curved with the outside of the curve expanded (like a sickle, or a new moon)
- Resupinate – upside down; the gills face outward, and the "upper surface" rests on the substrate; e.g. the gills of Schizophyllum
- Reviving – having the property of expanding to normal shape and size when moistened
- Rhizoid – a root-like structure, a filamentous branchike extension for feeding rather than reproduction
- Ring – annulus
- Sapro- – prefix meaning rotten
- Saprobic / saprophytic gaining nutrients from dead material
- Saxi- – prefix meaning rock
- Scolecospores – filiform (threadlike) spores
- Seceding – at first attached to the stem but later separating from it
- Secession – release, breaking off, separating of spores from sporogenous cells
- Separable – easily separated or dis-joined
- Serrate – with the edge broken or notched so as to resemble the toothed edge of a saw
- Sessile – without a stem; attached directly to the substrate
- Setae – bristles
- Shelving – attached to an object by the side of the cap and forming a shelf, like a bracket
- Silky – covered with shiny, close-set fibrils
- Simple – opposite of branched
- Sinuate – with a U-shaped indentation next to the stem
- Skeletal hyphae (in basidiomata) – thick walled, branched or unbranched, aseptate, straight or slightly flexuous, with thin-walled apices
- Sp(p) – abbreviation for species, singular and plural
- Spore colour– In mushrooms, spore colour is diagnostic, and can be determined by placing a severed cap right-side up on a white or black paper and covering with a tumbler; usually after a few hours many spores will have fallen
- Spore – general term for a reproductive structure of fungi, that does not contain an embryo. In fungi, spores may be single or multicelled.
- Stalked – with a stem
- Stellate – star-shaped
- Stipe – stalk of a mushroom
- Stroma – fused mass of hyphae appearing as a tissue
- Stuffed – filled with a soft, rather cottony center that usually disappears in mature specimens, typical of the stems of certain mushroom species
- Sub-– a prefix meaning "somewhat"
- Subglobose – nearly but not completely spherical
- Subhyaline – not quite colourless, but not strongly pigmented, e.g., conidia/conidiophores of Aspergillus nidulans
- Subtending – extending from underneath
- Symbiosis – "living together" of unlike species to their mutual benefit, e. g. mycorrhizae, lichens
- Teleomorph – sexual stage in a fungal life cycle (nonsexual stage is the anamorph)
- Terrestrial – on the ground
- Terri- – prefix meaning earth
- Thallus – vegetative body, typically a mycelial, and typically non-motile
- Throughout – in all parts of the structure
- Trama – the inner tissue of the cap or gill
- Trichodermium – describing the caps of boletes, where hairs project from the surface, giving a velvety appearance if dry
- Trimitic (in basidiomata) – Sporocarp with three kinds of hyphae: generative, skeletal, and binding
- Unitunicate – asci with a single membrane layer, sometimes with a pore structure or operculum (lid)
- Verticilliate – having parts in rings or whorls
- Vesiculose – with a delicate, bubbly or foamy texture
- Viscid – slimy
- Whorl – a ring, one turn of a spiral
- Zygo- – prefix meaning yoke; a paired structure
- adnate –refers to fills/pores/wrinkles/teeth, broadly attached to top of stem
- adnexed – refers to gills/pores/wrinkles/teeth, partially attached to top of stem
- anastomosing – cross connections between gills
- annulus- a remnant of the partial veil left as the mushroom matures. It often leaves a ring of membranous tissue around the stem (stipe)
- ascus – microscopic flask-like structure containing sexual spores of Ascomycota
- basal disc – disc-like structure at the base of the stem, as in Pixie’s Parasol
- basidium–microscopic club-like structure with prongs on which are sexual spores.
- bifid – divided into two
- bracket – pored fungus with a bracket-shaped fruit-body on trees or dead wood. A similar shaped fruit-body without pores is referred to as either a shelf or a fan
- bryophyte – a collective name for mosses, liverworts and hornworts
- bulbous – a bulb-like swelling at the base of the stem (stipe), often underground
- button – immature specimen
- caespitose – with fruit-bodies growing in a dense clump
- cap – pileus which is the umbrella or bell-like ‘hat’ of the mushroom. The pileus holds the spores in either gills or pores, wrinkles or teeth
- carpophore – complete fruit body of the fungus (ie. cap, stem, gills, etc). Sporophore and sporocarp are other names also used
- clavate – club-shaped
- close – refers to gill spacing; neither crowded nor distant
- cluster cup – cylindrical fruit-body of one of the stages in the live cycle of rusts
- concentric – with circular or arc-like zones or bands having a common centre
- convex – of caps, rounded or domed
- convoluted – wrinkled, brain-like, intricately folded
- coprophilous – growing on dung
- cortina – cobweb-like partial veil
- crowded – refers to gill spacing, very close together
- cup –description given to the saucer shape of the Ascomycetes group
- decurrent – refers to gills/pores/wrinkles/teeth whose attachment to the stem extends down for some distance
- deliquescent – liquefying at maturity, common among Ink-caps
- depressed – of caps, sunk in the centre like a saucer
- distant – refers to gills, widely spaced
- downy – with soft, fluffy hairs
- egg – initial egg-shaped stage of some fungi which have a universal veil covering the developing cap and stem (stinkhorns, amanitas, puffballs)
- endoperidium – inner layer of a multilayered perineum, covering the spore mass
- exoperidium – typically of earthstars and stalked puffballs, outer layer of a multilayered peridium
- face –side of a gill
- family – a group of closely related genera, the name ending in -aceae
- fan – a bracket-shaped fruit-body with gills on the underside of the cap
- fertile surface – surface bearing spores such as the surface covering gills or spines
- fetid – foul-smelling
- fibrillose – covered with fine, silky fibres which are usually appressed, i.e. pressed flat to the surface
- forked – usually refers to gills, divided or pronged like a fork
- free – refers to gills/pores/wrinkles/teeth, not attached to stem
- fruit-body – the visible, reproductive structure of any fungus
- fungus (pl. fungi) – a member of the Kingdom Fungi; organisms which typically are composed of hyphae, reproduce by spores and possess nuclei, and which lack roots, leaves and chlorophyll (to carry out photosynthesis)
- gelatinous – jelly-like
- genus – taxonomic term meaning a group of similar species. Genera that are closely related are placed into families
- genus(pl.genera) – a group of closely related species
- gill – spore-bearing structure of mushrooms
- gill( lamina) – blade-like or leaf-like plate on which spores are produced, beneath the cap of an
- gleba – see spore mass
- globe –the spore mass inside a puffball
- gluten – clear, jelly-like, sticky liquid exuded by some fungi
- gregarious – with many fruit-bodies growing close to one another
- habit – manner of growth of fruit-body, whether single, gregarious or clustered (caespitose)
- habitat – the vegetation, soil and any other distinctive components of the place where the fungus naturally occurs
- head – refers to fungi without caps, the part of the fruit-body supported on a stem
- hygrophanous – changing colour upon drying
- hygroscopic – sensitive to moisture
- hypha –a microscopic fibre making up the fungal body.
- hypha(pl.hyphae) – microscopic, tubular filamentous units of a fungus
- incurved –of cap margin, turned under towards stem
- indusium – in some stinkhorns, net-like veil which hangs down like a skirt
- ink cap – common name of the Coprinus genus– the caps turn to an inky mess when picked and before you can dry them!
- inrolled – of cap margin, turned under towards stem
- inturned – of cap margin, slightly incurved
- lamella (pl. lamellae) – see gill
- lateral – of stems, attached at side of cap
- lobed – with rounded projections
- look-alikes – species that look superficially similar to the species being described
- luminescent – glowing in the dark
- margin – typically of cap or fills, outer edge
- membranous – typically of ring, like a membrane or skin
- mesoperidium – typically of stalked puffballs, the middle layer of a three-layered peridium
- milk– a liquid exuded from certain species such as Lactarius deliciosus
- mouth – opening through which spores are discharged
- mushroom – fungus with fills on the underside of the cap, usually withy a stem; generally refers to an agaric
- mycelial disc – disc-like structure found at base of stem, consisting of a compact mass of mycelium
- mycelium– vegetative part of the fungus which grows in the host or soil and produces the fruit body; the mycelium is like a mass of often microscopic fibres
- mycorrhiza – the association between the mycelium of a fungus and the rootlets of plants. Little is known of the associations between fungi and plants in Australia; hence, the important questions on habitat and nearest tree/plant in the mapping scheme
- odour – smell of the fruit-body
- partial veil – covering of the gills while very young that breaks open, often leaving remnants on the stem (stipe)
- pileus – cap
- species – group of individuals with certain common characteristics
- spore print – spore material left on paper when the cap is left for a period of time — the colour can be an important identifying characteristic
- spore – microscopic part of the fungus, which can germinate to reproduce the fungus
- stipe – stalk or stem of the fruiting body of the fungus
- universal veil – material, which completely covers the young immature mushroom
- volva – the remnant of the universal veil which is sometimes left at the base of the stipe
- –merous – suffix meaning part (e. g. trimerous means in three parts)
- Free mushroom – mushrooms with gills entirely unattached to the stem
Other mushroom terms[edit | edit source]
- Agaric - a saprophytic fungus of the order Agaricales having an umbrellalike cap with gills on the underside; fungus used in the preparation of punk for fuses
- Agaricales - typical gilled mushrooms belonging to the subdivision Basidiomycota
- Basidiolichen - a lichen in which the fungus component is a basidiomycete
- Bolete - any fungus of the family Boletaceae
- Bracket fungus - a woody fungus that forms shelflike sporophores on tree trunks and wood structures
- Calvatia - genus of puffballs having outer casings whose upper parts break at maturity into angular pieces to expose the spores
- Calvatia gigantea - huge edible puffball up to 2 feet diameter and 25 pounds in weight
- Cantharellus - a well-known genus of fungus; has funnel-shaped fruiting body; includes the chanterelles
- Chanterelle - widely distributed edible mushroom rich yellow in color with a smooth cap and a pleasant apricot aroma
- fungus - a parasitic plant lacking chlorophyll and leaves and true stems and roots and reproducing by spores
- Jelly fungus - any fungus of the order Tremellales or Auriculariales whose fruiting body is jellylike in consistency when fresh
- Lycoperdon - genus of fungi whose fruiting body tapers toward a base consisting of spongy mycelium
- Mushroom - fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi; a large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb); any of various fleshy fungi of the subdivision Basidiomycota consisting of a cap at the end of a stem arising from an underground mycelium; common name for an edible agaric (contrasting with the inedible toadstool); verb grow and spread fast; pick or gather mushrooms
- Pezizaceae - large family comprising many typical cup fungi
- Phallaceae - a family of fungi belonging to the order Phallales and comprising the true stinkhorns
- Polypore - woody pore fungi; any fungus of the family Polyporaceae or family Boletaceae having the spore-bearing surface within tubes or pores; the fruiting bodies are usually woody at maturity and persistent
- Puffball - any of various fungi of the family Lycoperdaceae whose round fruiting body discharges a cloud of spores when mature; any of various fungi of the genus Scleroderma having hard-skinned subterranean fruiting bodies resembling truffles
- Scleroderma - genus of poisonous fungi having hard-skinned fruiting bodies: false truffles; an autoimmune disease that affects the blood vessels and connective tissue; fibrous connective tissue is deposited in the skin
- Scleroderma citrinum - an earthball fungus that is a dingy brownish yellow and a dark purplish interior; the peridium is covered with a pattern of small warts
- Sclerodermataceae - a family of fungi or order Sclerodermatales with a single-layered peridium; includes earthballs
- Stinkhorn - any of various ill-smelling brown-capped fungi of the order Phallales
- Truffle - creamy chocolate candy; edible subterranean fungus of the genus Tuber; any of various highly prized edible subterranean fungi of the genus Tuber; grow naturally in southwestern Europe
- Truncocolumella - a genus of fungi belonging to the family Rhizopogonaceae
- Tuberaceae - family of fungi whose ascocarps resemble tubers and vary in size from that of an acorn to that of a large apple
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